Going with Leighton or Boucher is a surefire loss. Might just give Bobs another shot even though he's not been as solid as one could hope. He's the future so let him play and learn.
Someone just has to tell Bobs it was the sucking offense and Miller standing on his head that caused losses in games 1 and 4, and Boucher + Leighton sucking in game 5.
I would've preferred to see Bobrovsky back in net for Game Three. To me, at this point it doesn't make much sense to put him back in. Right now, any of the three gives you equal opportunity to win or lose. Putting Bobrovsky back in as starter after banishing him to the pressbox for the last three games, would be just as unexplainable as the initial move to scratch him.
Habs fan here: I'm pretty shocked at how much hate Leighton is getting on these parts. Yes he had an erratic series against the Hawks and a questionable goal to lose it, but the guy came in and battled yesterday in a tough situation; no one seems to be giving him any credit for weathering the storm. Boosh let in 3 ECHL calibre goals, yet people are blaming Leighton for the loss after shutting the door when he came in?
Or maybe I'm just not getting part of the story here.
Habs fan here: I'm pretty shocked at how much hate Leighton is getting on these parts. Yes he had an erratic series against the Hawks and a questionable goal to lose it, but the guy came in and battled yesterday in a tough situation; no one seems to be giving him any credit for weathering the storm. Boosh let in 3 ECHL calibre goals, yet people are blaming Leighton for the loss after shutting the door when he came in?
Or maybe I'm just not getting part of the story here.
He has terrible positioning and rebound control. By the time Philly played the Habs, the habs were spent and with their lack of size down the middle they couldn't screen him. He's 6'3" and stands up pretty straight so guys who are in the 5'7" range couldn't do much damage. He even said he could see past them so I'm not just hating on him
The team seems to play better with him in net, likely due to his bad positioning. It forces the dmen to be more alert. Boosh, up till last night, has been steady as a rock. Bob is extremely athletic and has had a heck of a learning curve and has surprised everyone from the get-go. Leighton just isn't a good goalie. He's big and fills the net well and that's really helped him.
Throw in the fact that by my viewing, the OT goal happened because a defenseman wasn't playing his position rather than any real fault of the goaltender and I just don't quite get the hate for Leighton.
No one has infallible rebound control, a defenseman has to be there to steer that kind of rebound to the corner. That goal happened because Ennis beat both Flyers defensemen to the crease after the failed clear. Leighton did everything he was supposed to but got exposed anyway.
That said, I still think a team is better advised to ride the youth unless doing so would actually damage them. Leighton is competent, but Bobrovsky is far more talented, I'd use Bob backed up by Leighton. Certainly no more Boucher, Boucher is why the B's nearly got you last year and Leighton is why we didn't.
I don't even care anymore...just stick with someone. This is such an embarrassment after our whole organization played the "our goaltending is solid" card all year and last summer.
So bummed on this team and organization right now.
If it were my team? Probably Bob, assuming he's mentally capable. Could someone explain why he didn't at least get kept around as the backup after getting pulled? Seems like a great way to really screw with a kids confidence - if he's in the teams future plans, that just seems crazy.
I voted Boucher just because it's realistic, but I'd love to see Bob given a chance.
As I've said in other threads, wanting to start Boucher isn't even about wanting to start Boucher...at a certain point this coaching staff has to invest a LITTLE confidence in our goalies' collective ability to bounce back from a bad outing. If you can't show them any confidence in their abilities, you're not going to get good games out of them.
